[sustainable_tompkins-l] Fwd: Cashing in on Cellulosic Ethanol: Subsidy Loophole Set to Rescue Corn Biofuel Profits

2016-08-10 Thread Maura Stephens 
Thought many of you would find this interesting. Please excuse duplications.

Begin forwarded message:

From: Jonathan Latham 
>
Subject: Cashing in on Cellulosic Ethanol: Subsidy Loophole Set to Rescue Corn 
Biofuel Profits
Date: August 7, 2016 10:14:44 PM GMT-04:00

Dear Friends and Colleagues

Published today (Monday 8th August) on Independent Science News:

Cashing in on Cellulosic Ethanol: Subsidy Loophole Set to Rescue Corn Biofuel 
Profits
by Almuth Ernsting

https://www.independentsciencenews.org/environment/cashing-in-on-cellulosic-ethanol-subsidy-corn-biofuel/

Synopsis: Essentially all US bioethanol comes from starch originating from food 
crops. The use of starch and food crops has always been portrayed as 
'transitional', however, and the stated goal of biofuels has always been to use 
the whole plant since the starch component is essentially the low hanging 
fruit. This would mean using cell walls as the primary feedstock since these 
are the major structural component of all plants. Plant cell walls are much 
more difficult to turn into ethanol or any liquid feedstock, however, and 
negligible progress towards the goal of 'cellulosic ethanol' has been achieved. 
Now, by changing the definition of 'cellulosic ethanol', the EPA is set to 
allow corn refineries to benefit from the much larger subsidies available for 
cellulosic ethanol without them actually making cellulosic ethanol, or even 
making progress towards it. The definition change will also result in an 
illusion of biofuel progress.

Almuth Ernsting is Co-Director of Biofuelwatch

Yours sincerely, and please share this article or email if you enjoy it.

Jonathan

Jonathan Latham, PhD
Executive Director
The Bioscience Resource Project
Ithaca, NY 14850 USA

www.independentsciencenews.org
and
www.bioscienceresource.org

jrlat...@bioscienceresource.org
Skype: jonathanlatham2
Tel: 1-607-319-0279

“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and 
opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who 
manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government 
which is the true ruling power of our country.”—Edward Bernays, Propaganda

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[sustainable_tompkins-l] Living Wage Visioning Contest Offers $2,500 in Prizes

2016-08-10 Thread Pete Meyers 
If you of anyone that makes less than a Living Wage OR you work with people who 
make less than a Living Wage, the Tompkins County Workers' Center very much 
encourages people to apply for this Contest!! (Still over a month to go to 
submit an entry). The TompkinsCounty Workers' Center (TCWC) announces its 
first-ever "Living Wage Visioning Contest".   Contestants will produce 
anoriginal creative work that gives artistic voice to their vision of howtheir 
life and the life of their family would change if they were paid a LivingWage. 
The forms of creative work that can be submitted into the Contest includevisual 
art, video, song, poster, poem, short story, or essay. The first place winner 
willreceive $1,250; second place winner will receive $750; and third place, 
$500. The Contest is open to Tompkins County residents or non-residents 17years 
or older who work in the County.  Entries will be accepted from July 1, 
2016through September 15, 2016, with winners announced on September 30, 2016. 
If you are able to help distribute posters advertising the Contest, either 
download the link by clicking here OR contact our office by responding to this 
email or calling 607-269-0409 and we'll make sure you GET some posters.
An especial thanks to the SustainableTompkins Neighborhood Mini-Grant Program 
for helping to support thiscontest. For contest details: 
www.TCWorkersCenter.org/LWVisioningContest or contact the Workers' Center at 
607-269-0409 ortc...@tcworkerscenter.org Cosponsors: The Kathy Yoselson Fierce 
Determination Fund of the Community Foundation; MulticulturalResource Center; 
SustainableTompkins; and the Tompkins County Office of Human Rights.
For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please 
visit:  http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/
If you have questions about this list please contact the list manager, Tom 
Shelley, at t...@cornell.edu.

Re: [sustainable_tompkins-l] When Protest Becomes Sacrament: Grady Sisters Heed a Higher Call

2016-08-10 Thread Gay Nicholson 
great article!  so good to see this in-depth coverage.

--
Gay Nicholson, Ph.D.
President
Sustainable Tompkins
309 N. Aurora St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
www.sustainabletompkins.org
607-533-7312 (home office)
607-220-8991 (cell)
607-272-1720 (ST office)

g...@sustainabletompkins.org

On Wed, Aug 10, 2016 at 10:12 AM, Ed Gottlieb 
wrote:

> When Protest Becomes Sacrament: Grady Sisters Heed a Higher Call
>
> These Catholic social justice advocates are exemplars of the force behind
> We Are Seneca Lake, one of the nation’s longest-running campaigns of civil
> disobedience.
>
> https://insideclimatenews.org/news/09082016/new-york-
> fracking-ban-we-are-seneca-lake-protests-crestwood-
> natural-gas-plowshares-into-swords-nuclear
>
>
> Ed Gottlieb
> Chair, Coalition for Safe Medication Disposal
>

For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please 
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[sustainable_tompkins-l] New Roots Students Bioremediate Southern End of Cayuga Lake

2016-08-10 Thread Remanu Steele 
Media Contact Remanu Steele, Outreach & Marketing New Roots Charter School
607-592-2944, rste...@newrootsschool.org

Ithaca, NY -- On Thursday, August 18 from 6-8:30 p.m. New Roots Charter
School students invite the public to a presentation about the natural and
historical value of wetlands at the site of their bioremediation project at
Stewart Park.  Food will be provided by Congo Square Market and there will
be live music performances by London McDaniel and Shaka.

New Roots students are planting native wetland species on a 50’x 50’ plot
in Ithaca’s Stewart Park in order to demonstrate bioremediation and explore
the natural and historical value of wetlands. The interdisciplinary project
is a collaboration between Earth Systems Science, English, Contemporary
Science and Technology, Statistics and Art classes.

The work entails acquiring and introducing plants, collecting and testing
water samples, and observing and comparing species behavior in the wetland.
The project models the Haudenosaunee remediation on Onondaga Lake. Students
will learn local ecology, community development, traditional knowledge and
permaculture.

New Roots science teacher David Streib, and Dean of Student Life Jhakeem
Haltom are organizing this project, inspired by a workshop called
“Traditional Ecological Knowledge”, hosted by SUNY ESF in ESF’s Center for
Native People and the Environment.

The event is open to the public with a suggested donation of $5-15 per
person.

To learn more about this event, please contact

Jhakeem Haltom, Dean of Student Life, #607-279-3229

-- 
Remanu Steele
New Roots Charter School | Outreach & Marketing
607-592-2944

For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please 
visit:  http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/
If you have questions about this list please contact the list manager, Tom 
Shelley, at t...@cornell.edu.